


Small and Feisty

by dontshootmespence



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Bullying, F/M, Gen, Short, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:53:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23478034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontshootmespence/pseuds/dontshootmespence
Summary: After hiring a new, if somewhat unlikely member to the BAU, Spencer and the reader find themselves wildly different, yet similar in all the important ways.Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Reader, Spencer Reid/You
Comments: 12
Kudos: 112





	Small and Feisty

“Hey, short stuff,” Morgan said, pulling Y/N’s hoodie over her head so that it hung over her eyes. “How you doing this fine morning?”

Flipping her hoodie back, she unzipped her jacket and reached for her steaming cup of coffee. She did not have the energy for this yet. “Well, someone is perky this morning,” she said, eyes still heavy lidded and pulling toward elusive sleep. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess you got laid.”

Morgan put his thumb and forefinger up to his mouth, pulling them across his lips, which made her chuckle. “Also, if you keep calling me short stuff, I’m actually going to kill you.”

“If you can reach me,” he laughed without missing a beat.

Personality wise, Y/N melded beautifully with the rest of the team, but physically, she was a little bit different. About a foot different. At 4′11″, she was the tiniest member of not just the BAU, but the Bureau as whole. Regardless, she’d been hired for her incredible martial arts skills in various disciplines and her knowledge of forensic psychology. She knew that the team loved her and welcomed her with open arms, but the teasing…oh, the teasing was relentless. As if she hadn’t heard enough of that all throughout her life.

Standing up to make her second cup of coffee (even though she still wasn’t done with the first), she punched Morgan in the arm. “I am small. But I am feisty. And I will kick your muscley-ass Morgan.”

Before slipping around the corner toward the coffee machine, she flipped Morgan the finger and ran right into Spencer - or into Spencer’s chest. At his 6′2″, she barely hit his shoulders. “Sorry, Spencer.”

“It okay, Y/N,” he said. “You the only one in?”

“Nope. Morgan is here. He keeps calling me short stuff, so I flipped him the bird.”

Spencer chuckled nervously and walked around her, still holding her gaze. “I think it’s awesome; your height I mean. You don’t fit people’s expectations.”

“Thanks, Spencer!” She exclaimed. At least one person on this team understood her. “That’s what I keep trying to tell people.”

“Does the teasing really bother you?” He asked, his tone of voice going from light-hearted to one of genuine concern. When she nodded, he continued. “I understand. I used to get that a lot. Not for height, obviously. But I was a nerd and I got it from everyone.” His gaze was practically magnetized to the ground, his shame clearly still just under the surface of his toughened skin. “I got it from the team for a while, but after Hotch and I talked to them, they let up. You know they don’t mean it, right?”

She still didn’t have enough coffee in her system for this conversation, but she replied. “I know. That’s why I don’t really say anything, because I know they mean it in jest. Even in school, I just made myself as loud and boisterous as possible hoping that got people to like me. Most of the time, it did, and the teasing let up.”

Instead of heading toward his desk for the morning, Spencer followed her to the coffee machine, continuing his never-ending train of thought as she fixed both of them a cup. “So that’s why you’re so-” He picked his words carefully. “Vibrant.”

“Don’t profile me, Spencer. You may be over six feet, but I’ll kick your butt too.”

“I have no doubt about that,” he laughed. “All I’m saying is if you spoke to everyone about it, I’m sure they’d stop. I know what it’s like to take that kind of thing day in and day out. Even the strongest of us crumble every once in a while.”

She handed him his cup of coffee, her face falling at the heavy implication of his words. Something told her life and the job hadn’t been too kind to Spencer. Interpersonal relationships of the romantic variety were strongly discouraged between Bureau members, but she couldn’t help wondering more about him - what lay underneath the surface of his tousled brown hair, deep-set hazel eyes, and a jawline that could cut glass. 

Shaking off the memories of her past and the curiosity Spencer instilled in her, she went back to her desk with her second cup of coffee and downed them quickly, forgetting the conversation entirely as she fell into the steady pace of filling out her mountain of paperwork. 

Later that day, they all decided to take a break and had Thai delivered to the Bureau, smiles and laughs flying across the bullpen at lightning speed as they fell into easy conversation. Somehow or another, it circled back to Y/N’s “diminutive stature” as Hotch had called it. ‘”Ha. Ha. Ha,” she deadpanned. “At least you used a Sunday word to pick on me.”

Out of nowhere, as if he’d been dying to say something for years (and she’d only joined about six months earlier), Spencer spat out. “I dare any one of you to take her down. Frankly, her height gives her an advantage if used correctly.”

“Thanks, Spence,” she said. She’d used the same nickname for him as JJ, but it felt right to say; it rolled off her tongue with ease and familiarity. “And it’s true. do you know how many guys I’ve gotten off their feet because I’m strong and compact? People think they know me.”

“I know what that’s like,” Spencer said quickly under his breath. 

Hotch had obviously heard. And she had too. But neither said anything. It was Morgan that called him out. “What, kid?”

“I’m just saying that I know what it’s like to be underestimated. You really shouldn’t.”

“Me?”

“No, no, no, just people in general,” Spencer replied, not trying to offend anyone. “Like I know, and Y/N knows you’re just teasing, but sometimes you guys are relentless.”

A heavy, awkward silence hung in the air for a moment, before Rossi mentioned something about wine and Emily went off on a tangent. With a soft smile, Y/N picked up her phone and shot Spencer a text message. 

\-- Thanks, Spence. I’m gonna be forward. Would you wanna grab a coffee sometime? Like a date? I’d like to get to know you better.

Once Spencer was done stuffing his face with chicken pad Thai, he checked his phone, blushing between her gaze and the message she’d left. 

\-- Yea, I’d love that. But one thing? Let’s not say anything to the team for now.

With a chuckle, her fingers slide across the screen. 

\--Oh yea. No way. We’ll never hear the end of it.


End file.
